Better is one day
When is this going to be over? I'm sitting through another sermon and - I hate to say it - I'm board.
I'm waiting for the last two songs and then we're dismissed. But they aren't coming...
Before I continue talking in my head, I should talk about my friends and myself.
My name is Astri Candon. I'm 15 and board out of my mind, sitting in the last row of pews at the First Church of Christ in a small town in Iowa.
Sitting on my right is my best friend, Mariah Evans who is a year younger than me. On my other side is Asher Myers. He's a year older than me, as is the rest of my friends (sitting next to Mariah), Kelsey and James Michaels, Amy Collins and Jorgan Andrews.
I'm the only freshman in this church. But it doesn't bother me.
It's May 27. I've got one week of school left...
There I go again, letting my mind drift.
I was able to listen to the preacher for the first seven and a half minutes...after that, I started talking to myself in my head.
Right now, he's talking about the tax collector at the temple and his prayer, how he's THE sinner...something like that, I think.
I yawned and looked over at Asher's watch.
11:03.
Is that it? Only 11:03?
After being raised coming to this church, I've run out of things to look at...although the carpet is always good. It's somewhat interesting to stare at.
So, I guess I'll be spending the rest of the sermon at the carpet.
Fascinating.
Asher nudged me with his elbow and nodded toward Jorgan and Amy.
Jorgan kept glancing at Amy.
I grinned.
Everyone knew they liked each other.
I went back to staring at the carpet. I wander when they'll get new carpet...
The doors slammed open and everyone turned to look - or glare - at who "had so rudely interupted the sermon."
I was thankful for the diversion...it wasn't every Sunday that somebody barged in.
My friends and I were in the last row of pews, so we got to see the person better.
Except we didn't want to.
The person was dressed all in black, complete with a black ski mask, boots, and gloves.
Well, I assumed he had two hands, both gloved. One was behind his back.
The whole place was silent.
There was a click from behind the man.
And then, I realized.
First Church of Christ was going to be in one of those church shootings.
"Any volunteers?" the man asked, his voice icy.
A slight murmer ran through the church; half of them hadn't heard the click of the gun and probably thought that they were just going to go help the man paint some elderly lady's house.
Tell me I wasn't the only one who had realized what was going on. The man would take his "volunteer" and shoot them on the spot. But, if nobody volunteered, he would flip out and start shooting everyone in the building.
Nobody had stood yet. Nobody had realized that something horrible was going to happen.
I stood up.
Don't ask me how, I was shaking. So much for "Fearless Astri" as my friends would always say.
"Come here." the man growled.
Somehow, I started walking.
Asher grabbed my wrist but I pulled away and got out of his reach.
I was going to die, Asher couldn't do anything.
But he had figured out everything, now, too.
I stood about 4 feet in front of the man, too afraid to go any nearer.
The man pulled his arm from behind his back, revealing a shining, silver handgun. He pointed it at my heart.
"Do you believe in God?" he asked, spitting it out like it tasted something horrible.
I thought about it. I did believe in God and loved God and I was baptized when I was 9. But was I prepared to die for God and become a martyr?
One of my favorite songs we sing here cam to my mind;
Better is one day in Your courts,
Better is one day in Your house,
Better is one day in Your courts,
than thousands elsewhere
Well, that WAS true.
"Yes, I do." I said, praying in my head that he wouldn't go and kill everyone else in the building. Amazingly, my voice didn't shake.
His thumb moved toward the trigger.
An ear-splitting bang rang through the church.
People had screamed.
But...I wasn't dead...was I?
I lifted an arm.
No, I wasn't dead.
But something was on top of me. And it was crushing me.
"Are you alright?" the something asked.
"Yes." I said and wriggled out from underneath it and turned to face it.
It was Asher.
His face was white as a sheet.
"What happened?" I asked, looking back up at the shooter. He was sprawled out on the ground, facing the carpet and Amy's dad was putting hand cuffs on him.
Did I mention Amy's dad is a cop?
"I pushed you out of the way and Mr. Collins kicked the shooter. Did you get hurt at all?" I turned my attention back to Asher.
I shook my head. "Did you? Oh, gosh, I'm going to hurt myself if you were hurt!"
"I'm fine, Astri, the bullet just grazed my elbow."
I looked at his elbow - it was bleeding.
Before I could say anything, my parents enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug, squishing me between them.
"I can't breathe!" I yelled and they backed away.
An ambulance arrived and checked over Asher and me.
****
I shook my head to get rid of my thoughts.
Nobody could say this morning wasn't eventful.
The man who had tried to shoot me was in jail, for good reason.
Asher's arm had been treated and was healing slowly - though we couldn't tell it yet.
If you're wandering about me, well, I'm paranoid now. But Mr. Collins, Amy, Mariah, Asher and some other people from church are going to help me.
And I'm getting back on that path that we walk. I'm going to start paying attention in church and recommit myself to Jesus.
I'm trying to think of this morning as a very scary wake-up call.
No more detours on my path.
****
My heart and flesh cry out,
to You, the Living God,
Your Spirit's water to my soul.
I've tasted and I've seen,
Come once again to me,
I will draw near to You,
I will draw near to You,
to You!
Disclaimer: I don't own the song and I'm not sure who does...but it's a really cool song.
A/N: The characters are based on my friends from church and myself and the plot was just something I thought of a while ago and hadn't written anything about it down...r/r and tell me what you think!
When is this going to be over? I'm sitting through another sermon and - I hate to say it - I'm board.
I'm waiting for the last two songs and then we're dismissed. But they aren't coming...
Before I continue talking in my head, I should talk about my friends and myself.
My name is Astri Candon. I'm 15 and board out of my mind, sitting in the last row of pews at the First Church of Christ in a small town in Iowa.
Sitting on my right is my best friend, Mariah Evans who is a year younger than me. On my other side is Asher Myers. He's a year older than me, as is the rest of my friends (sitting next to Mariah), Kelsey and James Michaels, Amy Collins and Jorgan Andrews.
I'm the only freshman in this church. But it doesn't bother me.
It's May 27. I've got one week of school left...
There I go again, letting my mind drift.
I was able to listen to the preacher for the first seven and a half minutes...after that, I started talking to myself in my head.
Right now, he's talking about the tax collector at the temple and his prayer, how he's THE sinner...something like that, I think.
I yawned and looked over at Asher's watch.
11:03.
Is that it? Only 11:03?
After being raised coming to this church, I've run out of things to look at...although the carpet is always good. It's somewhat interesting to stare at.
So, I guess I'll be spending the rest of the sermon at the carpet.
Fascinating.
Asher nudged me with his elbow and nodded toward Jorgan and Amy.
Jorgan kept glancing at Amy.
I grinned.
Everyone knew they liked each other.
I went back to staring at the carpet. I wander when they'll get new carpet...
The doors slammed open and everyone turned to look - or glare - at who "had so rudely interupted the sermon."
I was thankful for the diversion...it wasn't every Sunday that somebody barged in.
My friends and I were in the last row of pews, so we got to see the person better.
Except we didn't want to.
The person was dressed all in black, complete with a black ski mask, boots, and gloves.
Well, I assumed he had two hands, both gloved. One was behind his back.
The whole place was silent.
There was a click from behind the man.
And then, I realized.
First Church of Christ was going to be in one of those church shootings.
"Any volunteers?" the man asked, his voice icy.
A slight murmer ran through the church; half of them hadn't heard the click of the gun and probably thought that they were just going to go help the man paint some elderly lady's house.
Tell me I wasn't the only one who had realized what was going on. The man would take his "volunteer" and shoot them on the spot. But, if nobody volunteered, he would flip out and start shooting everyone in the building.
Nobody had stood yet. Nobody had realized that something horrible was going to happen.
I stood up.
Don't ask me how, I was shaking. So much for "Fearless Astri" as my friends would always say.
"Come here." the man growled.
Somehow, I started walking.
Asher grabbed my wrist but I pulled away and got out of his reach.
I was going to die, Asher couldn't do anything.
But he had figured out everything, now, too.
I stood about 4 feet in front of the man, too afraid to go any nearer.
The man pulled his arm from behind his back, revealing a shining, silver handgun. He pointed it at my heart.
"Do you believe in God?" he asked, spitting it out like it tasted something horrible.
I thought about it. I did believe in God and loved God and I was baptized when I was 9. But was I prepared to die for God and become a martyr?
One of my favorite songs we sing here cam to my mind;
Better is one day in Your courts,
Better is one day in Your house,
Better is one day in Your courts,
than thousands elsewhere
Well, that WAS true.
"Yes, I do." I said, praying in my head that he wouldn't go and kill everyone else in the building. Amazingly, my voice didn't shake.
His thumb moved toward the trigger.
An ear-splitting bang rang through the church.
People had screamed.
But...I wasn't dead...was I?
I lifted an arm.
No, I wasn't dead.
But something was on top of me. And it was crushing me.
"Are you alright?" the something asked.
"Yes." I said and wriggled out from underneath it and turned to face it.
It was Asher.
His face was white as a sheet.
"What happened?" I asked, looking back up at the shooter. He was sprawled out on the ground, facing the carpet and Amy's dad was putting hand cuffs on him.
Did I mention Amy's dad is a cop?
"I pushed you out of the way and Mr. Collins kicked the shooter. Did you get hurt at all?" I turned my attention back to Asher.
I shook my head. "Did you? Oh, gosh, I'm going to hurt myself if you were hurt!"
"I'm fine, Astri, the bullet just grazed my elbow."
I looked at his elbow - it was bleeding.
Before I could say anything, my parents enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug, squishing me between them.
"I can't breathe!" I yelled and they backed away.
An ambulance arrived and checked over Asher and me.
****
I shook my head to get rid of my thoughts.
Nobody could say this morning wasn't eventful.
The man who had tried to shoot me was in jail, for good reason.
Asher's arm had been treated and was healing slowly - though we couldn't tell it yet.
If you're wandering about me, well, I'm paranoid now. But Mr. Collins, Amy, Mariah, Asher and some other people from church are going to help me.
And I'm getting back on that path that we walk. I'm going to start paying attention in church and recommit myself to Jesus.
I'm trying to think of this morning as a very scary wake-up call.
No more detours on my path.
****
My heart and flesh cry out,
to You, the Living God,
Your Spirit's water to my soul.
I've tasted and I've seen,
Come once again to me,
I will draw near to You,
I will draw near to You,
to You!
Disclaimer: I don't own the song and I'm not sure who does...but it's a really cool song.
A/N: The characters are based on my friends from church and myself and the plot was just something I thought of a while ago and hadn't written anything about it down...r/r and tell me what you think!